Aqueduct
In 1905, Ramon Lujan (then owner of Hacienda de Salaices) invited all the
neighboring land owners to join forces to build a dam on the Santa Barbara
River so they could all irrigate their land. His neighbors thought he was
crazy and refused to participate. Determined to irrigate more of his land,
Lujan borrowed money on credit to build the dam and fix up the hacienda.

The dam, called El Preson de Talamantes, is small but brought
much needed water into Salaices. Anyone who wanted to irrigate had to come
to the casa grande to get the keys needed to open irrigation gates on the
aqueduct.

Water flowed through the aqueduct for crop irrigation, drinking,
and power to run the grist mill at the end of the aqueduct. It was built by
hand using local materials and no cement; lime was used as the mortar between
stones. It performed its role very effectively for many years. Unfortunately
it hasn't been maintained and is no longer useable. Those portions of the
aqueduct that still stand are exquisite examples of construction.

When Lujan returned from his duties in the Revolution, he
discovered that his doubting neighbors had siphoned off the aqueduct water
for their own use, leaving little for Salaices' needs. Loss of his water source
contributed to Lujan ultimately losing the property to the National Bank of
Agriculture.

A large portion of the aqueduct runs through an orchard
now owned by Francisco Salazar Rendon. The area is used as a walnut and experimental
fruit tree orchard. This area used to be the center of activity for the hacienda
de Salaices (in the days of the hacendados).

Molino (grist mill)

In front of what's now the home of Sra. Maria Dolores Armendariz,
is the aqueduct's end funnel and grist mill. (The aqueduct terminates in her
front yard.) The funnel caused more pressure in the water flow, which created
the power required to turn the gears and, therefore, enough power to turn
the "Molino" (grinding stones).

The Molino (grist mill) was used to grind wheat into flour
for the hacendados and hacienda workers. Salaices resident Donaciano Salazar
Rendon remembers, "Even though I was small, I would work holding the
sacks open so they could fill them. I was earning 1 peso."

The bed for the grinding stones is in what's now Maria Dolores
front patio; it has not been disturbed or filled in. One stone now sits across
the narrow street from her home. Donaciano Salazar said, "It hasn't been
that long that both rocks were there; there's only one left. They're very,
very heavy and sometimes we stop and think, 'how did the water move them?'"Molino photos

1999. A section of the aqueduct built during the ownership
of Ramon Lujan. Local materials and mortar were used, but no cement or concrete.

EX-HACIENDA
DE SALAICES

AQUEDUCT
& MOLINO

Aqueduct & Molino

Note: The information on this page was extracted
from the book, "Salaices - The History & the Family," by Marti
Conger, Phillip Salaices, and José Luis Aguayo. Contact psalaices@salaices.com
(for the US and Canada), or aguayoalvarez@yahoo.com.mx
(other countries)

Water & the Spanish Law
The Spaniards instituted their laws where only centuries-old customs existed.
They transported their State to the colonized territories where they applied
iron clad laws that were issued in Spain for three centuries. The laws covered
every element of the social fabric - civil life and politics, the affairs
of war, every branch of the economy, how land was divided, mine registrations,
etc.

An example of the impact of these laws is the use of water,
which began to be regulated very early in the Conquest. Water regulations
brought with them many of the same customs and uses that the ancient Romans
and Arabs had applied to Spain during their occupations. The regulations controlled
the rivers, irrigation channels, the aqueducts, storages facilities, etc.
Water was considered communal property where it crossed boundaries of cities
or villages. These regulations included detail for apportioning water to each
user. Naming water judges or irrigators for each locale was a very serious
and delicate matter that was important to the entire community.

This Spanish form of distributing
water was done in irrigation channels that were in the river. Methods also
existed for distributing water based on religious days. "To the hacienda
de Corrales from the day of the Candelaria, or February 2, until the first
normal rains arrived."